Bulb customers… what next?

Newmum92

Hi everyone 

for those of you currently with bulb what are your plans? I know they aren’t offering any fixed deals but I can’t decide what to do, do I switch to another provider? Is it even worth it? Do I go to utility warehouse but then I have to take other products which I can’t afford! Ughhh I feel stuck. 

I’m in a 3 bed end terrace me, my hubby and my 18 month old and currently paying £203 a month.  

Mstty

Have you looked at a switch to a fixed rate to green energy?

Worth a quote and their rates do beat the upcoming October prices

https://www.greenenergyuk.com/

EssexHebridean

I would strongly urge you against looking at Utility Warehouse - unless your circumstances are fairly specific they won't be much cheaper than others anyway, and they are an absolute nightmare to deal with. 

@mstty - that's a really good shout on Green - I think I may jump that way, thank you for the heads up!. 

Mstty

wittynamegoeshere said:

Mstty said:

Have you looked at a switch to a fixed rate to green energy?

Worth a quote and their rates do beat the upcoming October prices

https://www.greenenergyuk.com/

That actually looks like a sensible deal, especially as there are no exit penalties.

So I'll be paying a premium for the next 3 months, while not actually using much energy anyway, then can stay or go as I prefer over the next year.  If the 65% rise does happen then I'd probably be in profit by the end of October, or November at the latest, then save every month beyond then.

All unless they go bust of course.

I'm going to ponder that over a cuppa.  Thanks for the info.

Sensible move cuppa and a ponder👍

wittynamegoeshere

3 cuppas later, I've done the analysis, and have signed up to Green Energy.  I will pay 38.42p instead of 27.63p, a 39% premium until the end of September, but during the months of lowest usage so not a huge amount in total.

If the 65% rise happens then I will be paying 38.42p instead of 45.49p from 1st October until the end of the year.  I reckon I will get back the extra I will have paid before the end of November.

After that, if prices drop then I will switch without penalty.  If GE goes bust in December then I won't have lost anything anyway and will be back on the same tariff I would have ended up on without this.

Equivalent fixes with my current supplier Eon Next are 44.51p or 64.34p (!!!).

Thanks for the link, all a bit weird how it doesn't seem to be widely mentioned on MSE or elsewhere.

I should add that we're entirely single tariff electric with no gas, things may differ with gas and/or economy 7 etc.

Apologies to the thread starter for the slight hijack, but it's all on-topic anyway.

Thanks.

Newmum92

Mstty said:

Have you looked at a switch to a fixed rate to green energy?

Worth a quote and their rates do beat the upcoming October prices

https://www.greenenergyuk.com/

Hiya
Thanks for the tip. I’m not sure if I’ve done something wrong on the website but the quote has come out as £350pm which is £150 more than I’m paying with bulb currently 😵‍💫 

Can that be right? 

Im not very maths savvy!

Newmum92

wittynamegoeshere said:

3 cuppas later, I've done the analysis, and have signed up to Green Energy.  I will pay 38.42p instead of 27.63p, a 39% premium until the end of September, but during the months of lowest usage so not a huge amount in total.

If the 65% rise happens then I will be paying 38.42p instead of 45.49p from 1st October until the end of the year.  I reckon I will get back the extra I will have paid before the end of November.

After that, if prices drop then I will switch without penalty.  If GE goes bust in December then I won't have lost anything anyway and will be back on the same tariff I would have ended up on without this.

Equivalent fixes with my current supplier Eon Next are 44.51p or 64.34p (!!!).

Thanks for the link, all a bit weird how it doesn't seem to be widely mentioned on MSE or elsewhere.

I should add that we're entirely single tariff electric with no gas, things may differ with gas and/or economy 7 etc.

Apologies to the thread starter for the slight hijack, but it's all on-topic anyway.

Thanks.

Well I for one am impressed by your maths… how can I work mine out? 🤣 thanks! 

wittynamegoeshere

Firstly, forget about prices per month or per year.  Compare standing charge per day and unit rates, everything else is misleading.

One disclaimer: I've just got my welcome email from GE.  They take payment by direct debit but for new customers they charge the billed amount per month.  This is perfect for me, but it may be an issue to some who like to know how much they're going to pay per month.  You will get low bills in the summer and high (or very high) bills in the winter.

Mstty

Newmum92 said:

Mstty said:

Have you looked at a switch to a fixed rate to green energy?

Worth a quote and their rates do beat the upcoming October prices

https://www.greenenergyuk.com/

Hiya
Thanks for the tip. I’m not sure if I’ve done something wrong on the website but the quote has come out as £350pm which is £150 more than I’m paying with bulb currently 😵‍💫 

Can that be right? 

Im not very maths savvy!

Hello

Do you know your annual usage in kWh?

If you can let me know what you pay now standing charges and price in pence per kWh.

Then let me know the standing charges and price in pence per kWh green energy UK are proposing on your fix deal.

I can then do the calculations and hopefully make it clearer 👍

Newmum92

Mstty said:

Newmum92 said:

Mstty said:

Have you looked at a switch to a fixed rate to green energy?

Worth a quote and their rates do beat the upcoming October prices

https://www.greenenergyuk.com/

Hiya
Thanks for the tip. I’m not sure if I’ve done something wrong on the website but the quote has come out as £350pm which is £150 more than I’m paying with bulb currently 😵‍💫 

Can that be right? 

Im not very maths savvy!

Hello

Do you know your annual usage in kWh?

If you can let me know what you pay now standing charges and price in pence per kWh.

Then let me know the standing charges and price in pence per kWh green energy UK are proposing on your fix deal.

I can then do the calculations and hopefully make it clearer 👍

Hiya

Ah thanks so much. 

So, my standing charges for bulb are - 36.11p electricity 
25.92p gas

Annual usage (it says estimated?) 

4246kWh electric 
13336 gas

Green energy 

37.92p electric standing charge 
38.93 p/kwh

31.31p gas standing charge 
11.75 p/kwh 

Hope I’ve done all the right! Thank you 😊

Mstty

@Newmum92

Yep that all makes sense I can fill in any gaps.

So the first picture will be what you pay now and what you should pay with green energy with the figures provided.

The second picture shows what happens if you do nothing and stay on the standard variable rate with the expected price cap rises on October 1st this year and the green energy fix

The last thing to make sure of is the estimated use, do you think this is right?